Letter: Gun insurance proposal redundant

There are at least two bills being introduced in our state Legislature to require owners of firearms to purchase liability insurance. These bills scream of ignorance: Any homeowner or tenant who has homeowner's or renter's insurance already has liability insurance that covers accidental injury or damage caused by the ownership or use of firearms by an insured. Any homeowners or renters who do not already have such insurance likely do not have it because they cannot or will not afford it.

Injury or damage caused by intentional unlawful acts of an insured, whether or not such acts involve firearms, is excluded by all liability insurance policies. No insurer will underwrite such risks, because to do so would violate prevailing public policy. Accordingly, it is impossible for an owner of a firearm to insure against such unlawful acts.

Illegal owners or possessors of firearms or any other potentially lethal weapons will care nothing about any state and federal laws (even the U.S. Department of Justice ignores them).

Therefore, this legislation will be a gross waste of time and taxpayer money.

When will our legislators learn that criminals have no regard for such impotent laws, the sole purpose of which is to punish the very law-abiding citizens who pay their salaries?

Such knee-jerk politicians are urged to read their homeowner's policies and to focus on reducing their wasteful spending.